University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2020 Investigating Wildfire as a Catalyst for Community-Level Resilience Lily J. Clarke Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Clarke, Lily J., "Investigating Wildfire as a Catalyst for Community-Level Resilience" (2020). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11614. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11614 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INVESTIGATING WILDFIRE AS A CATALYST FOR COMMUNITY-LEVEL RESILIENCE By LILY JANE CLARKE Bachelor of Arts, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, 2011 Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Systems Ecology The University of Montana W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation Missoula, MT May 2020 Approved by: Ashby Kinch, Associate Dean of the Graduate School University of Montana Graduate School Alexander L. Metcalf W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation Jill M. Belsky W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation ii Acknowledgements I sent a handwritten letter to Dr. Carol Miller in July 2017. I wrote to her on my interest in her research on wildfire in the wilderness. Months later, I had the opportunity to meet her in her coolly lit office in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. She listened with a keen earnestness to my interests in how people in Montana interact with and are affected by wildfire. A week later I heard from one of her colleagues, Dr. Alexander L. Metcalf at the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. He asked me if I would be interested in applying for a Master’s position in Systems Ecology with a focus on human community resilience to wildfire. Over the coming weeks I had the opportunity to meet in person with Dr. Alexander L. Metcalf, whose forthcoming and personable ways I found encouraging. I thank both Dr. Carol Miller and Dr. Alexander L. Metcalf for thoughtfully listening to me in a time of uncertainty, and reaching out to me about the Master’s opportunity. Without their encouragement and support, I may not have applied. I thank Rebecca Rafferty for sharing phone calls with me about the program, words of advice and insights. I thank Dr. Dee Garceau for encouraging me to apply to the program and for taking the emotional time and energy to sit down with me, listen to my hesitations and concerns, and talk through why this program was not only a great opportunity but also exactly what I was interested in and ready to do. I thank Dr. Alexander L. Metcalf for giving me the two things I need most in a mentor: someone who supports and challenges me. Dr. Alexander L. Metcalf challenged me to think through the linkages and impacts of pursuing such a study, to be both confident and humble in the small amount of contribution any research project may have. He was incredibly supportive when I came to him with needs and life happenings, and continually encouraged me to have a rich personal life on top of my academic pursuits. Dr. Alexander L. Metcalf gave me the time and thoughtful conversations necessary to grow as a person and as an academic, for which I am deeply grateful. I also thank Dr. Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf and Dr. Jill M. Belsky for their commitment to personal connection and academic rigor. Both provided me with many conversations that challenged my understanding of the world and were just plain fun. I thank Dr. Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf for bringing incredibly positive energy to the table when thinking through ideas with research colleagues and the communities we studied. I thank Dr. Jill M. Belsky for always welcoming me into a conversation with a radical openness, and challenging me to think beyond the assumptions of resilience to question who resilience measures truly benefit. I thank Dr. Philip E. Higuera, Dr. Dave B. McWethy, and Dr. Carol Miller for being part of a dynamic and thoughtful interdisciplinary research team, and for being excited about the human dimensions of wildfire. I thank the communities of the Methow and Bitterroot Valleys for willingly and graciously participating in our study. I also thank Lily Lang for joining our team, taking notes during our facilitated group discussions in the Methow and Bitterroot Valleys, and for her good company. I thank my wildland firefighting captains and leaders, Andre Du Lac, Brandon M. Hightower, Brian Campbell, Jason L. Keister, Samuel D. Cummings, Daniel A. Sullivan, and Brett Pargman for giving me the patience and encouragement necessary to step into the wildland firefighting world. They answered the many questions I asked with thoughtfulness and kindness throughout our seasons together. I also thank my comrade Ian Jirasko for always being there to challenge my assumptions and encourage my way of being. iii Growing up in Swan Valley, Montana, wildfire became a presence that repeatedly presented us as a community with fears and gifts. Wildfire season was a chance to come together as a community, and exposed deep fissures in worldviews concerning how mountains should be “managed”. Wildfire events brought new spirits and morels, and an understanding of being part of a greater ecosystem. I thank my community in the Swan Valley and in Missoula for influencing my values of mountains and good people. I thank my housemates, David Ketchum, Jake Jones, and Emily Armstrong, for being thoughtful and supportive people to share a space with over the past two years. I thank my mother, grandmother, father, brother, and extended family for the unfathomable amount of emotional support they continue to provide me with. And for the many good meals and pots of tea they shared with me. I thank my love, Peter Debelius, for grounding me and challenging my assumptions about the ways of the world, for which I am grateful. Sincerely, Lily Jane Clarke iv Table of Contents Thesis Abstract 1 Chapter 1: Community Resilience to Wildfire: A Call to Study Perceptions of Community-Level 5 Outcomes Literature Cited 13 Chapter 2: Investigating which Community Resilience and Wildfire Impact Factors are Associated with 19 Perceptions of Positive Community-Level Outcomes Introduction 20 Methods 25 Study Area 25 Data Collection 25 Figure 1. Maps of studied census tracts in Montana and Washington 26 Independent Variables 27 Model Selection 28 Results 29 Survey Response 29 Exploratory Factor Analysis 29 Independent Variables 30 Table 1. Mean, standard deviation, factor loadings, and unstandardized Cronbach's alpha for 32 each composite variable in preliminary model Final Linear Regression Model 34 Figure 2. Residuals of the model did not appear to violate the homogeneity of variance or 34 normal distribution assumptions Table 2. Final linear regression model 34 Discussion 34 Conclusion 38 Literature Cited 39 Chapter 3: Cookies, Quilts, and Hay: Connecting perceptions of community-level outcomes with 49 community-level resilience to wildfire Introduction 49 Study Areas 52 Descriptions of the valleys and the wildfires they experienced 53 Methods 54 Facilitated Group Discussions 54 Facilitated Group Discussion Organization 56 Results 57 Valley residents shared resources during the wildfire events 58 Valley residents perceived increased cooperation between wildfire management agencies 60 Valley residents have seen increased local investment in community-level resilience to wildfire 61 Discussion 63 Literature Cited 69 Thesis Conclusion 75 Literature Cited 77 Appendix A: Wildfire in the West Survey Methods Summary 78 Appendix B: Wildfire in the West Survey Questionnaire 88 1 Thesis Abstract Wildfire is increasingly entering the global consciousness as severe events in California, Australia, and Greece elicit intense emotional response while exposing the consequences of a changing climate. In concert with uncertainties around climate change, policymakers, scientists, and activists call for supporting the resilience of social and ecological systems. Yet resilience as a concept is not monolithic. Resilience speaks to maintaining core structures and functions, but also adapting and transforming them so they may coexist with current and future disturbances. Questions remain over who decides which core structures and functions of a particular system are most valued, whether they should be adapted or transformed, and who benefits from system interventions. In an age where knowledge is situated by media outlets, policies, and worldviews, resilience is a goal that can be easily usurped by those who benefit from extant system structures and functions. Therefore, from a social justice framework, if resilience goals are to enhance equity and well-being, grassroots efforts must engage in creation and pursuance. In the case of wildfire, this includes mobilizing the communities which have and potentially will be exposed to wildfire events. Communities, a compilation of social and institutional structures, will need to consider and work within, or seek to modify, institutional barriers to pursue their resilience goals.